The Sibling Rivalry Continues

ABRAHAM’S OFFSPRING:
The Sibling Rivalry Continues

The Lord said to Abram, “Go to a land I will show you ... and you shall be a blessing ... To your offspring I will give this land” (Gen. 12:1-7 NIV ). Naturally speaking, these offspring are descended from Abraham’s sons, Isaac and Ishmael. A Scofield Study Bible note at Genesis 16:11 tells us that they are the Jews and “Arabs, the traditional enemies of the Jews.”

Spiritually speaking, a Nelson Study Bible note points out that Abraham’s offspring are not only Jewish (through Isaac), and Muslim (through Ishmael), but also Christians (through Christ from the line of David, Judah, Jacob and Isaac). Peter confirmed this in Acts 3:25-26 when he said, “You are heirs ... of the covenant God made with ... Abraham: ‘Through your offspring all peoples of the earth will be blessed.’ When God raised up His servant Jesus, He sent Him ... to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.” According to Rafique’s Kinsmen of Abraham (available from G&T), this blessing has not yet been accepted: “The majority of Abraham’s kinsmen ... hold a religion which appears ... similar to Christianity, but in reality is ... most vehemently opposed to its cardinal teachings. This is the religion of Islam.”

The violent struggle, raging between the Jews and Palestinians today, tells us that Abraham’s natural offspring remain bitter enemies – still fighting over the land. And the devastating “holy” war, declared when Islamic terrorists destroyed New York’s Twin Towers and the lives of thousands, tells us that the spiritual offspring remain bitter enemies as well. The blessing promised to Abraham’s descendants will not come from possessing a land or from winning a war, but only from accepting the Savior who offers the “love ... which passes knowledge” and “the peace ... which surpasses all understanding” (Eph. 3:19; Phil. 4:7). Until then the sibling rivalry will continue.

By Larry Ondrejack